Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jan 11, 2018 11:46:51 GMT -5
There is no excuse for this at all. Video shows hospital guards "dumping" patient in freezing coldBALTIMORE -- Overnight, Imamu Baraka was walking past a Baltimore hospital when he noticed something he says he'll never forget. The hospital's security guards had just wheeled a patient to a bus stop, and in the freezing temperatures they left her there. The only thing she had on was a hospital gown. "It's about 30 degrees out here right now," Baraka says in a recording of the encounter. "Are you OK, ma'am? Do you need me to call the police?" he asks. It's called "patient dumping" and it doesn't just happen in Baltimore. In 2007, "60 Minutes" investigated the practice of removing homeless patients from Los Angeles hospitals and leaving them downtown. Complete article here: Video shows hospital guards "dumping" patient in freezing cold
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Gardening Grandma
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Post by Gardening Grandma on Jan 11, 2018 12:00:36 GMT -5
Utterly revolting. For profit medical care has no place in a civilized society.
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grumpyhermit
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Post by grumpyhermit on Jan 11, 2018 12:16:43 GMT -5
Sure there is. Sounds like she couldn't pay. Out on the street with you. This is the goal, right? If you can't pay your way you can't expect others to give you a free ride. Who cares if you are sick, clearly confused, and don't even have clothes on? Pay, or GTFO.
I hope the "personnel" discipline extends to whatever higher up authorized this practice (even though I know it won't), because there is no way low wage security staff took it upon themselves to do this. Shocked and appalled my ass, this has to be hospital "policy" at some level.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jan 11, 2018 12:16:53 GMT -5
at least arrange transportation to a local shelter! Unbelievable!
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grumpyhermit
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Post by grumpyhermit on Jan 11, 2018 12:19:50 GMT -5
at least arrange transportation to a local shelter! Unbelievable! Or give her clothes. Or shoes. I doubt she showed up at the hospital naked. It's amazing how utterly devoid of compassion and empathy some people are.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Jan 11, 2018 13:10:23 GMT -5
The hospital acknowledged the video was authentic and is looking into the root cause.
Las Vegas was in trouble a few years back for buying one way bus tickets to the San Francisco area for poor and mentally ill patients.
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Jan 11, 2018 13:26:35 GMT -5
I work for a non-profit contractor in the LA County public mental health system, and we hear of situations like this every week. Every night in Los Angeles County, approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people go unsheltered. Every Night. That's more people than many cities in this country even contain!
Hospitals are overwhelmed by people in need. Unfortunately they cannot be everything to everybody. If an emergency room deems you are medically stable (even if you are sick), they unfortunately can and do release you. They will release you in the same condition in which you arrived. If you came in barely clothed, that is the way you will leave. They do not have clothing closets. They do not have food pantries. They do not have emergency social services - that's not their mission. Sad but true. The whole thing is awful.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jan 11, 2018 16:09:35 GMT -5
There is no excuse for this at all. Video shows hospital guards "dumping" patient in freezing coldBALTIMORE -- Overnight, Imamu Baraka was walking past a Baltimore hospital when he noticed something he says he'll never forget. The hospital's security guards had just wheeled a patient to a bus stop, and in the freezing temperatures they left her there. The only thing she had on was a hospital gown. "It's about 30 degrees out here right now," Baraka says in a recording of the encounter. "Are you OK, ma'am? Do you need me to call the police?" he asks. It's called "patient dumping" and it doesn't just happen in Baltimore. In 2007, "60 Minutes" investigated the practice of removing homeless patients from Los Angeles hospitals and leaving them downtown. Complete article here: Video shows hospital guards "dumping" patient in freezing coldIt even made it on our news. I was absolutely horrified!
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jan 11, 2018 16:17:02 GMT -5
There is no excuse for this at all. Video shows hospital guards "dumping" patient in freezing coldBALTIMORE -- Overnight, Imamu Baraka was walking past a Baltimore hospital when he noticed something he says he'll never forget. The hospital's security guards had just wheeled a patient to a bus stop, and in the freezing temperatures they left her there. The only thing she had on was a hospital gown. "It's about 30 degrees out here right now," Baraka says in a recording of the encounter. "Are you OK, ma'am? Do you need me to call the police?" he asks. It's called "patient dumping" and it doesn't just happen in Baltimore. In 2007, "60 Minutes" investigated the practice of removing homeless patients from Los Angeles hospitals and leaving them downtown. Complete article here: Video shows hospital guards "dumping" patient in freezing coldIt even made it on our news. I was absolutely horrified! From watching the video, the woman appears to be unable to hear or speak based upon her hand movements to her mouth and ear.
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dezii
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Post by dezii on Jan 11, 2018 16:52:19 GMT -5
It even made it on our news. I was absolutely horrified! From watching the video, the woman appears to be unable to hear or speak based upon her hand movements to her mouth and ear. Being a senior I grew up at a time when...please excuse the vernacular...when there were institutions called , "Insane Asylums"...for the cruder members of the society , try "Nut Houses."...The patients, inmates were clothed, housed, fed, medical care given when needed...possible some therapy..rehabbing..possible some entertainment..movie night...Then it was decided that this was not fair to these folks to institutionalize them....they were released...given a monthly income but for all intents were on their own....Wonder if some of these put out folks aren't part of that doings..
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jan 11, 2018 17:00:13 GMT -5
Could be, Dezi, could be. We just don't know this particular woman's story.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Jan 11, 2018 17:36:55 GMT -5
This really is horrifying and would not happen here. We called and paid for cabs when needed. If the patient was unable to care for him/herself, had no place to go, or appeared confused our police were always willing to help get them to a safe place. If the clothes they arrived in were unwearable, we'd provide a set of scrubs, or paper scrubs for them. We'd also feed them if they were hungry. Never would we have even considered putting a helpless person out in the street. It's unconscionable.
Around here, the term "patient dumping" refers to what some families do with "grandma" when they want to go on vacation and she's in the way. They bring her to the hospital and they disappear. When I read the title of the thread it never even occurred to me a hospital would do such a thing!
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 11, 2018 18:19:40 GMT -5
Patient dumping goes way back. That’s how hospitals got rid of patients who couldn’t pay.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jan 11, 2018 18:21:23 GMT -5
Patient dumping goes way back. That’s how hospitals got rid of patients who couldn’t pay. That doesn't make it right.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Jan 11, 2018 18:27:36 GMT -5
Patient dumping goes way back. That’s how hospitals got rid of patients who couldn’t pay. That doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it the way things are done anywhere I've worked, either.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 11, 2018 19:48:39 GMT -5
I didn’t say it was right. I said it was done. DD saw it happen in the ER all the time.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 11, 2018 19:51:34 GMT -5
I know years ago before we had huge amounts of no insurance people it was done regularly. The hospital I volunteered at in high school got fined but they could have cared less. Let’s see. A unpaid bill for thousands of dollars or a fine. Guess which won the bottom line. The hospital that took all the uninsured? They’re out of business now.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Jan 11, 2018 19:57:48 GMT -5
What is wrong with people? Seriously. I mean, it's the middle of Winter, for crying out loud. What if that was your mother? And people wonder why I worry what's going to happen to DS after I'm gone. Some people just have no conscience. I wouldn't do that to a dog, or any other animal, so why is it o.k. to do that to a fellow human being?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 11, 2018 20:02:43 GMT -5
It’s not but some hospitals especially after hours, can’t admit and can’t support someone who isn’t actually ill but homeless.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 11, 2018 20:03:24 GMT -5
Has anyone here ever had their animals treated for free?
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Jan 11, 2018 21:39:11 GMT -5
Has anyone here ever had their animals treated for free? Yep. I lived next door to a married couple, both veterinarians. I wasn't the only one whose pet they treated free of charge. Their pet dog was one that was left on the doorstep of their clinic. Great people who honestly cared about animals.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Jan 11, 2018 21:50:37 GMT -5
DD has an old friend who has picked up some work at a large animal boarding facility near us (in fact, it's the same place we take Bad Boy Puppy anytime we leave town). About once or twice a year, an owner will drop off a dog or cat, and never return. So far, every fur baby that has been abandoned, that facility has been able to find a new home for.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 12, 2018 2:52:49 GMT -5
That’s amazing and wonderful.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jan 12, 2018 12:35:38 GMT -5
Sounds like we need a new Mother Teresa to offer comfort to the 'dumped patients'.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 12, 2018 17:36:25 GMT -5
I’m sure there are plenty here who’d Volunteer.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jan 12, 2018 17:51:51 GMT -5
This really is horrifying and would not happen here. We called and paid for cabs when needed. If the patient was unable to care for him/herself, had no place to go, or appeared confused our police were always willing to help get them to a safe place. If the clothes they arrived in were unwearable, we'd provide a set of scrubs, or paper scrubs for them. We'd also feed them if they were hungry. Never would we have even considered putting a helpless person out in the street. It's unconscionable. Around here, the term "patient dumping" refers to what some families do with "grandma" when they want to go on vacation and she's in the way. They bring her to the hospital and they disappear. When I read the title of the thread it never even occurred to me a hospital would do such a thing! I'll wager not a coincidence this happened in bankrupt Baltimore. The police may refuse to handle such cases due to lack of manpower. This kind of thing will become commonplace throughout the Western world in the years to come. Even here in Toronto, with our system still relatively well-funded, the shortage of beds in hospitals has reached critical levels. We still have infrastructure in place to avoid incidents like this, but with demographics being what they are, it will be less than a decade until our ability to tax, borrow and spend runs out and we join the inglorious ranks of Baltimore.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jan 12, 2018 17:55:52 GMT -5
What is wrong with people? Seriously. I mean, it's the middle of Winter, for crying out loud. What if that was your mother? And people wonder why I worry what's going to happen to DS after I'm gone. Some people just have no conscience. I wouldn't do that to a dog, or any other animal, so why is it o.k. to do that to a fellow human being? Doing something about it might entail taking a patient like this into your home and caring for her until she dies. In the future, it will entail this kind of commitment. I'm not saying people shouldn't make such a commitment, but we can't take it lightly. Can you honestly say, in your heart of hearts, that if not walking by ultimately meant taking a homeless stranger (possibly with medical, psychological, and addiction issues) into your home and caring for them for the rest of their lives, you still wouldn't walk by? Only you can answer this, but I think you're fooling yourself if your answer is an unqualified "yes".
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jan 12, 2018 18:19:39 GMT -5
According to the dumped woman's mother, her daughter suffers from bipolar schizoaffective disorder and Asperger's syndrome. Mom says "heartless" hospital dumped daughter in the coldThe mother of a 22-year-old woman who was discharged from a Maryland hospital and left to fend for herself in freezing cold weather at a bus stop is speaking out to correct misconceptions about her daughter. The mother, who asked to be identified only as Cheryl, says she wants to "correct the misinformation that's out there" because her daughter, Rebecca, "was humiliated" by the incident. "There are people who are saying that my daughter is a drug addict, my daughter's a prostitute, that she's deaf," Cheryl told CBS News. "She's not deaf, not a prostitute, not a drug addict. My daughter has mental illness." The case gained national attention when a bystander captured cellphone video of hospital workers leaving Rebecca on a downtown Baltimore street wearing only her flimsy hospital gown and socks in 30-degree weather. Complete article here: Mom says "heartless" hospital dumped daughter in the cold
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 12, 2018 18:22:37 GMT -5
Well, there's a mother to take care of her at least.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Jan 12, 2018 18:42:54 GMT -5
I don't think that this patient had addiction issues. Methinks she was deaf or HOH, but it's hard to tell someone's mental state after they have been put out into thirty degree weather in a hospital gown. The brain shuts down to protect the core of the body really fast. Nobody subjected to that shock makes any kind of sense or appears coherent.
I do hope that the ensuing investigations include interviews with the drivers of buses that service this location during low-traffic hours. I find it hard to believe that a half a dozen uniformed security drones would leave a woman that could be their mother out in those temps unless they had some sort of assurance that they were dumping her in a safe place. You just don't see that kind of calm unless folks have some sort of assurance that they aren't killing someone or have been doing this for a long time.
My guess is that this has been going on for a long time.
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